Britain’s trendy Pret A Manger takeout shops are ready to blitz New York with 40 stores selling cheap gourmet eats to lunchtime crowds.

The deal would put the all-natural eateries at the corners of every key hub in Midtown and Wall Street – making it the largest such chain of its kind in the city.

Although the philosophy of Pret A Manger (pronounced “pret-ah monjay”) is very pro-environmental, its two founders have taken a big gamble to pay for their expansion – they’ve sold a third of their enterprise to McDonald’s.

They’re using the estimated $38 million to open the first batch of New York shops this summer but insist that McDonald’s isn’t going to influence Pret A Manger’s upmarket menus.

McDonald’s said it has an option to buy more shares and to acquire all of Pret A Manger over time.

“New York is the perfect market for us – sophisticated but tired of overpriced lunchtime foods that aren’t all-natural or freshly made,” said Jay Willoughby, president of Pret A Manger’s U.S. operations.

The first store opened here a year ago in Wall Street and did more than $1 million a year in sales – high for a takeout joint selling $5 sandwiches ranging from Thai chicken wraps or tomato-brie on a basil baguette.

“We expect to have 40 locations in Manhattan’s major business areas by the end of 2003,” Willoughby said.

“We’re after the Monday-to-Friday office people, and probably won’t go to the Upper West Side or other residential areas.”

The chains promise to get customers in and out in three minutes, faster than McDonald’s.

Pret A Manger, which was started by two college pals in a basement kitchen in 1986, has grown to 115 stores in London and the U.K., with sales hitting around $172 million last year.